Oakenheart

Brightpointe and Dragonwing

Brightpointe

Trailblazers that headed east found their resting place right on the outskirts of the desert. The small city of Brightpointe acts as a trade and expeditionary outpost; the desert is harsh, unforgiving, and for most of the Oakenheart citizens, new and terrifying. Still, especially for those who had little in Oakenheart, the desert provides a sense of wonder and adventure. Everyday, adventurers bring back interesting items from the desert: little pieces of pottery, ancient coins, or, if they are really lucky, minor magic items to sell.

The village itself is nothing spectacular. The local temple of the Rose, “the Oasis”, can host a few visitors in its inn and tavern. There is a general store called “One Man’s Treasure,” where the Perfect Form Guild has set up shop to buy and sell things, taking the salvaged artifacts back to Oakenheart to find a profit. The land just outside of the desert is actually quite fertile, and a few farmers have taken to growing crops there. The only symbol of Oakenheart authority is a small barracks of the Golden Legion and an Arbiter’s office.

Recently, Brightpointe has had limited contact with a couple tribes of scorpion-like people that roam the desert. Communication has been limited, and a little hostile; thankfully, no actually conflict has broken out, yet. The Tlincalli are prideful hunters and nomads; at the moment, they see no need to build a relationship with the Oakenheart outpost.

Dragonwing

A tribute to She-Under-Wings-of-Dragons, Dragonwing lies at the base of Dragon mountain. Lack of building material was beginning to become a real issue for Oakenheart, before the Expedition. The builders were experts at recycling, but not even that could save them from dry quarries. Deciding to make an outpost amongst the granite cliffs of the great mountain was simple: the cliffs had the resources Oakenheart needed. Not surprisingly, Dragonwing is a sprawling mining town. While the population is relatively low, many of those that had difficulty making a life in Oakenheart (most of which already had experience living in caves and near cliffs) have already or are starting to move to Dragonwing. For honest work there is good pay and a new start, quite attractive to some. Recently, stores of more precious minerals have been sighted in the area, and many citizens are expecting a mining boom to explode the town to new proportions.

The town itself is rather small; as a mining town, the houses are spread out across the cliffs where various mining crews work day in and day out to send material out of Oakenheart and Brightpointe. There is a single inn on the western end of the town, while a few different taverns are scattered across the mining area. The Perfect Form guild has a trading and carting post here, but they couldn’t keep the monopoly; many poor but determined entrepreneurial citizens have started to unseat the guild iron grip on trade. They will go into town cheaper, faster, and for more of a profit to the mining crews than Perfect Form wants to. Time will tell how long that lasts.

The tremors proved worrisome for the miners, but now mining has resumed with a fervor.